Country and Western (C&W) is perhaps the hottest "cultural thing" in St. Lucia. Did I say "cultural"? Well, that is debatable but I will hold that corner until you can prove otherwise!
Which one came first? Is it "Quadrille" or "C&W". Perhaps, Quadrille! I understand that the slaves danced Quadrille - is that true? And by the way, did Quadrille come from Africa? I don't know!
But, I'll tell you one thing: Choiseulians love C&W and they also love Quadrille. But hear this: the Quadrille is dying out. When was the last time that you went to a Quadrille dance? Nowadays, we only see the kids dancing it on rare, ceremonial occasions.
|
A REALLY SMOOTH PIECE OF DANCING BETWEEN TWO EXPERTS DANCERS |
There is a school of thought that the death of Quadrille helped to make the C&W stronger. It is claimed that the traditional folk dancers became nostalgic and simply jumped ship. That may be true.
|
EVERYBODY IS HAVING A GOOD TIME DANCING COUNTRY |
|
YOU CAN ALSO TAKE TIME OFF FOR A DRINK OF "TENNESSEE" WHISKEY AT THE BAR |
|
COOL BREEZE (FROM COOL BREEZE CAR & JEEP RENTAL) AND TREVOR (FROM THE COUNTRY LIME CREW) LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC |
|
C&W DANCING HAS MANY STYLES: THIS IS ONE OF THEM! |
|
DJ FRESH AT THE "DOTCOM SOUNDS" CONSOLE |
|
DELICIOUS CREOLE CUISINE TO ENJOY |
|
A GALORE OF JERK CHICKEN ALSO AVAILABLE |
Country and western dancing is smooth, decent and graceful. It is a disciplined dance and once upon a time, it was thought to be "age-appropriate" for the old folk; but today, it appeals to the youth equally. There is hardly any disorderly behaviour at the sessions. The accepted dress code is almost semi-formal.
The quadrille , polka and the other old dances were copied from the French, they were the dances of Europe . Of course the music has the african influence in the rythm but the melodies are very similar to French tunes , an odd but beuatiful mixture.
ReplyDeleteC & W dance steps are the same as modern Ballroom Dance , the only explanation I can think of is that as the old dances of europe evolved into modern ballroom so the old dances here evolved in much the same way to become C & W.